I haven't posted anything this month yet. The main reason for this is, well... there are actually lots of reasons for it, but they're mostly boring and you wouldn't care about them, O intrepid internet reader!
Anyway, here's a worksheet on the characters of 1984 - Character Analysis.
In said sheet, students explore the three main characters (Winston Smith, Julia, O'Brien) and find a corresponding quote from the text before answering a guided question for each one. The sheet also has summaries for the following supporting characters:
- Big Brother
- Mr Charrington
- Syme
- Parsons
- Emmanuel Goldstein
After students have been taken through each of the characters, get them to synthesise their thoughts on the supporting characters in response to one of the primary themes of the novel. This can be done through this question:
George Orwell's 1984 is primarily about the effect of totalitarianism on a society. Pick two supporting characters and discuss how they demonstrate this.
On a separate but related note, I recently had the pleasure of attending the recent stage production of 1984 created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan. This took place at the Sydney Theatre, and the visit became possible thanks to my colleague Ashlee Horton, who organised it as a school excursion for some of our Year 12 Advanced English students.
The play starts in a somewhat disorientating manner, perhaps relying a little too much on the viewer's knowledge of the novel as various elements and characters coalesce together in a metatextual opening scene that meditates on the themes as much as the plot. From here though the production took hold of just about everyone in the audience with its arresting and inventive use of lighting and sound. Without getting too much into particulars, the experience is a wholly visceral assault on the senses that immerses the viewer in Orwell's world of surveillance and control, with the play building its own way into the story; both paying tribute to the novel whilst also making the best use of the medium of the stage.
The play starts in a somewhat disorientating manner, perhaps relying a little too much on the viewer's knowledge of the novel as various elements and characters coalesce together in a metatextual opening scene that meditates on the themes as much as the plot. From here though the production took hold of just about everyone in the audience with its arresting and inventive use of lighting and sound. Without getting too much into particulars, the experience is a wholly visceral assault on the senses that immerses the viewer in Orwell's world of surveillance and control, with the play building its own way into the story; both paying tribute to the novel whilst also making the best use of the medium of the stage.
I was left breathless by the end. It was also great to hear the students similarly inflamed and provoked by the play.
